13 First Steps To De-Toxify Your Home for Baby

Like most moms in this day and age, I belong to a local parenting message board. I had some misgivings before I got involved, as I am not much of a joiner, truth be told. I never, for example, belonged to a sorority or anything along those lines in college. But when my daughter started showing signs of really wanting to hang with people her own age at around 8 months, I did it for her. Factor it in along with the other surprises of motherhood; I’m really glad I joined. Reading the daily posts is like my own version of parenting reality television, and my daughter – and I – have made some good friends, too.

I’ve also found it to be a very interesting barometer of just how green the average parent is. Since I got on the message board over a year and a half ago, organic parenting issues have been slowly but steadily popping up. At first, a green topic would come up every few months – a query about water testing here, about safer paints for nurseries there. Then it sped up – did anyone know anything about organic crib mattresses? What else could breastmilk be stored in besides plastic bags? Obviously the lead paint in toy scares and BPA in baby bottles media blitz helped propel environmental health issues into most parents’ minds, whether they self identify as green or not. And I’ve seen on the board that these two things (lead and hormone disrupters), while nothing new, are new to these families and have really opened up their minds. Parents who formerly dismissed the idea of organic parenting are now emailing me on and off the board, coming up to me in the playground and at playgroups, asking all manner of really good, thoughtful questions. When I realized I was spending an hour or more a day responding to my neighbors’ questions, I knew it was time to offer to host a local “eco night.”

I do these – sometimes with Deirdre – fairly often. A group will come and ask me or us to talk about the top ten things pregnant moms or families can do to green their surroundings. But I haven’t done one for a group of people I know. So this will be a unique experience for me, one I’m really looking forward to. And it will have a New York focus, as we’re all New Yorkers – also something I haven’t yet done. I’m modifying my top ten list (ok I’m now at eleven) to make it city and even neighborhood-centric. The owner of a local kid’s hair cutting store/boutique called Doodle Doo’s (she just so happens to be my across the hall neighbor) has agreed to let us use her space after hours. Shortly after I posted the eco night offer, over 50 people signed up!

I prefer to talk to no more than 15 people at a time because everyone has so many questions and I like to be able to at least try to answer all of them. So I’m now doing three eco nights, all with local parents, some of them the mothers of my daughter’s friends. The first one will be this week. Depending on how it goes, I may open this up to the public and offer eco nights once a month to anyone who wants to come. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. The Internet is wonderful and enables me to interact with parents far and wide, but I’m really excited for the opportunity to talk with people in person about their concerns. I’m hoping to be asked questions that will challenge me and force me to do more research. And to motivate people to go greener.

Here’s what I’ll be touching on (in no order, though I do tend to begin with cleaning products as switching over is such a quick and easy way to drastically reduce indoor air pollution):

1. Food – reasons to adopt a whole foods diet. The importance of organic and local. Details on how to join a CSA farm. And resources for what conventional fruits and veggies are considered safer than others. I’ll touch on juice, wine, tea and coffee.
   
2. Water – Getting it tested for contaminants. NYC tests water for free, a great offer when so many buildings have old pipes. I’ll also talk about water filters and reusable (non-plastic) water bottles for parents and kids.
   
3. Kitchen – what the safest pots and pans are (bye-bye non stick, hello cast iron) plus the best storage containers (glass over plastic) and what should never go in a microwave. I’ll also talk here about baby bottles and breastmilk storage.
   
4. Safer cosmetics – this will include diaper creams, creams for cuts and scrapes, bug spray, sun block, soap vs. antibacterial hand gels, shampoos, body creams, toothpaste and more.
   
5. Cleaning products – a round up of why green cleaning products are key, this will include laundry and dish detergents, and, because so many people in New York live in big buildings, tips on getting management to make a product switch as well. I’ll also touch on investing in a vacuum that has a HEPA filter.
   
6. Insect and pesticides – New York City is so roach and mouse (and sometimes rat) infested, someone once told me that Brooklyn has the 2nd highest pesticide use rate in the State. Considering that upstate New York is quite agricultural, this is shocking. No wonder our asthma rates are so high. I’ll tell people how best to go about finding a greener exterminator, and explain integrated pest management (IPM).
   
7. Remodeling – I can’t imagine there being a place on earth with more renovations going on per square inch than New York City. I’ll hit on the dangers of renovation (including lead paint) and talk about avoiding renovations altogether or vacating living space while they’re underway. I’ll also give resources (like GreenDepot.com) for the greenest construction materials from paints to caulks.
   
8. Home décor. Most of the parents on my message board already have their nurseries and kids rooms set up, but I’ll give them some information on what to look out for if they’re in the market for a toddler bed, a new rug for a babe to crawl on, or even a new couch for the whole family. I’ll talk about steam cleaners versus chemical cleaners when it comes to hiring someone to come in and clean your rugs and furniture. Here I’ll also explain why to – and where to – avoid vinyl.
   
9. Toys – Enough said.
   
10. School activism – My new favorite topic! My daughter may live in her green-as-possible-in-New-York-City bubble now, but soon she’ll be starting school. Tips and resources for families interested in getting their schools greener.
    
11. Medicine – Setting up a less medical medicine cabinet. This will basically be about encouraging parents to try tried and true home remedies before reaching for over the counter meds when they’re not necessary. A study recently showed that honey (for kids over 1) works much better than any OTC cough med, many of which have actually been found to be harmful to children.
    

It’s hard to cram all of this and more plus a serious Q&A session into 90 minutes, but I’m going to do my best. I keep thinking of more I want to say. Like right now, I just thought of my #12: take off your shoes before entering the house or just leave them in the entryway. This is huge in New York, where our streets are filled with some serious grime you don’t want on the rug your baby crawls on. Oh and #13: no more dry cleaning! Ok, time to start editing down my talk. I don’t want anyone to leave eco night feeling overwhelmed. The point is to empower.